The Depth of Her Weakness
by Medie
Summary: Loving Bruce Wayne has made her weak...Renee Montoya in the Justice Lords' 'verse


Title: The Depth Of Her Weakness  
  
Author: Medie  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Characters: Renee Montoya  
  
Keywords: Justice Lords' Universe, Challenge Fic for the Random Scenario Generator  
  
Spoilers: None  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the originals. DC does.  
  
Author's Note: the scenario challenges were Renee Montoya/a world where the heroes are villians and vice versa & Renee Montoya/Any Member of the Justice League (paraphrased but...G) as long as it was Het. What I got out of that in my own head was Renee in the Lords Universe.  
  
Summary: Loving Bruce Wayne has made her weak...  
  
"The Depth Of Her Weakness"  
by M.  
-------  
  
There was a time she'd looked upon Wayne Manor with the awe and curiosity that it elicited in most Gothamites. The mystery that surrounding it and the Wayne family have been entrancing the city's residents for years. The Waynes are Gotham City's answer to the Kennedys. The city's own royal family. Complete with tragic history and handsome heir to complete the picture, the Manor has invited little girls and big girls alike to dream about the magic that might exist behind it's high walls.  
  
Even the pragmatic Renee Montoya entertained a fantasy or two over the years. A grown woman, she can still remember the news of Thomas and Martha Wayne's murder. The singular event that drew the eye of everyone in Gotham to young Bruce and his life even as his life became a protected mystery to which no one had access. No matter how hard the media tried, Bruce Wayne's personal life remained firmly locked away with only tidbits doled out as the years passed. It protected him and, at the same time, created even more of a mystique. Because of that, she had always wondered about what it would be like to be admitted beyond those protective walls. To live with him, the lord and lady in their castle. It was almost a modern day fairytale she'd created in her mind, something she would never admit to the officers she worked with, the only one she'd ever entertained. Certainly not something she'd expected to come true. No matter how twisted it's reality.  
  
Wayne Manor became her home. Bruce Wayne became her husband. She became the lady of the house. Pampered by her husband to all appearances, living a charmed life.  
  
A lie.  
  
When Wayne Manor became her home, it really became her prison. Her husband became her jailer and, like the rest of the world, Renee became a prisoner with only an illusion of freedom.  
  
She sighed, tightening the belt of her white satin robe, and left the master bathroom, walking to the windows. Early in her marriage, she came to love the master bedroom and it's view of the harbor. She'd lost track of how many hours a day she spent on the balcony, staring out at the water and trying to forget what the world has become. How weak and helpless she is.  
  
Before she'd given up the police force, urged by a husband supposedly fearful for her safety, Renee had seen first-hand the hope draining away from people as the realization sank in. The understanding that their beloved Dark Knight has, hand in hand with the rest of the Justice Lords, stripped away their freedoms to leave them living in a police state. In the end, that was the true reason she'd given up her badge. She couldn't stand to watch the slow death of the people's spirit. Not when, in her eyes, she was complicit in it's murder.  
  
As much as Gotham City's love of Batman has waned, the love of Bruce Wayne has grown tenfold. The city, eager for a distraction from the Justice Lords' brave new world, threw itself into the unlikely romance of Bruce Wayne and Renee Montoya. The papers covered every detail imaginable of their public appearances. Their evenings out. Who they wore, what jewelry he had given her, the way they stood together, even the way he looked at her...nothing was missed by a public desperate for some good news.  
  
Renee lifted a hand, touching the cold glass of the window, and looking out at the rainy night. The diamonds on the ring finger of her left hand caught the light and sparkled. Their wedding had been a lavish affair that had dazzled not just Gotham City but the majority of the eastern seaboard. All eyes had been focused on the church. The media saturated with coverage. Few had even bothered to cover the tragic accident that had claimed the life of Gotham's beloved Police Commissioner, James Gordon. Even fewer mentioned the new restrictive legislation that the President had signed into law.  
  
Renee likes to pretend it was not so. That Bruce would never be so calculating as to use their marriage as a smokescreen. Hiding yet more betrayals by the Justice Lord beneath the tidal wave of 'good news' but, in the quiet moments alone, she has no choice but admit the truth. If only to herself. She has seen Batman at his finest, seen him strategize, manipulate his opponents. Bruce Wayne was more subtle and careful about hiding his skill but it was there. He plans everything out and controlled every detail of what the public knew. Even what they know now.  
  
At night, when he lays beside her, curled about her, his face buried in her hair, arms holding her close, Renee has wondered more than once how better things would be if she just smothered him in his sleep. Awake, she knew she didn't stand a chance against him. Her only - admittedly slim - chance would be if she attacked him in his sleep. He was a light sleeper. She would have to act fast. But there was a chance. She has wished for the strength to do it more than once. The Justice Lords would be hit hard by the loss of Batman. Without his strategies, if only for a brief period of time, they would be vulnerable.  
  
But she can't.  
  
Like it or not, complicit or not, she married Bruce Wayne because she loved him. And loves him still. It, to her, has made her as guilty and as responsible for the world they now live in as any member of the Lords...and that is a guilt she accepts. Loving Bruce Wayne has made her weak and, in the depth of her weakness, she has always known it.  
  
The moment he slipped the ring on her finger, the moment she agreed to be his...  
  
She embraced the weakness, sealed her fate and left the world to the Lords' mercy...  
  
And, in a twisted sort of way, she is happy.  
  
Finis 


End file.
